


Of Hair and Flesh

by RecluseWriter



Category: Library of Ruina (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Gen, death mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28304004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RecluseWriter/pseuds/RecluseWriter
Summary: A Prescript deliever bring Yan to an out of the way apartment complex.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Of Hair and Flesh

"Yan~ Your hair is so fluffy~"

Unsurprisingly, Gloria was running her mechanical claws through Yan's hair. She would make it a point everytime she saw him to get her claws into his hair. Whether he was bringing her a Prescript or when she was ripping out the lungs of someone. Gloria made sure the claws she was using were sparkling clean. Any bit of dirt, debris, or blood in Yan's hair always made Gloria upset. If his hair was ever dirty, he would get a lecture on how nice his hair is and how he needs to take better care of it. Though the lectures themselves weren't necessarily anger driven, they were driven by something. Of course, Gloria’s lectures were obviously driven by an emotion, which someone would assume to be a disappointment. Surely that was maybe part of it, but not fully the motive. Part of it felt like fear. 

“Yan~ Yan~ Do you have a Prescript for me?~”

He snapped out of his thoughts and turned to face Gloria, who had been standing behind him. From his pocket, Yan pulled a Prescript and held out for Gloria. Her little digital eye peaked into its upward arrow as she happily took the Prescript, continuing to stroke Yan’s hair. 

“Hmmm……Slit the throat of a Grade 4 Fixer~"

"It's straightforward. Finding a Grade 4 might be the hardest part."

"Yep, hehe! Bye-bye, Yan!"

Gloria gave one last stroke of his hair before gathering the Proselytes and heading off. Yan waited till he couldn't hear Gloria's singing of "Fixer Hunting We Go" before setting off to finish delivering Prescripts. 

___________________

For a Backstreet apartment complex, there was a surprising amount of children running around. The little ones tussled with each other while the older ones, the oldest seemingly only being about twelve, grouped together to play jacks. None of them seemed to have a care in the world. The complex itself looked like it had seen better days. Part of one of the buildings had caved in, and the others looked like they were barely standing. Yan looked around to see if there had been an adult watching that he had missed from his first observation. No adult in sight. He sighed and started walking over to one of the buildings. The Prescript was to be given to a Mrs. Aritlo of an apartment complex named Kinder. The District and apartment number had been left out of the description. After going through a long list of apartment complexes, Yan was finally able to get the exact location. Her name and location were unfamiliar to Yan. She mostly likely took up a contract with the Index for protection. Being the only Finger that didn’t require any money, the Index was able to provide services of protection for doing whatever the Prescripts they were given asked. They start out fairly easy, asking for strange but mundane things. From there, they slowly become more twisted. The Prescripts always seem to know what the receiver's life was like and things surrounding them. The sheer amount of children living in the complex could be used as a perfect toy in the Prescripts' game.

Normally, Yan, if not given the exact room number, would go to each apartment till he had found the person he was looking for. Trying to be as quiet as he could, Yan worked his way through one of the broken buildings. Not a single noise came from any of the rooms. Once he exited the building, Yan took a moment to breathe. Everything in the building was dust and mold covered. Blood smelt far worse, but being in such a compact place made everything worse. Dust filled up his nose, yet the mold smell premeditated through to the point where he could taste it. With his fairly strong gag reflex and some willpower, Yan kept himself from throwing up. 

“Hey--mh!”

Yan’s head snapped around, hand on the hilt of his blade. The source of the voice was nowhere to be seen, along with all of the kids. Assuming it was likely one of the children’s voices, he removed his hand from the hilt, not wanting to scare the kids anymore than they likely were. At his feet, a small ball sat. Yan leaned down and picked it up. The spot where the older kids were playing jacks had all the supplies on the ground except for a ball. Swiftly but cautiously. Yan walked over to the spot and attempted to fit the ball in between the jacks to prevent it from rolling away. He continued on to the next building, which unfortunately, was larger than the previous. There was a tiny bit of hope that maybe the second building would be in a condition that could be lived in as the third and final building as one that was partly collapsed in. 

Thankfully, it was clean, far better than Yan expected. The rugs were free from any dirt, and the doorknobs were so polished that his reflection could be seen in them. A flowery scent danced through the air, cleaning his nose of the horrid smell of mold. Though no matter how much Yan enjoyed the contrast, he still had a Prescript to deliver. Again, no answer. He sighed. In the stairwell, sound from outside could start to be heard. 

“GET---WY FR--- ER!”

The words may have been muffled, the meaning was clear. Sword now in hand, Yan rushed down the stairs and out the front door. 

“Gloria!”

“Yan~ Hiii!”

Gloria waved at him as in another one of her claws held a very terrified little girl while a group of children gathered around her. The girl in Gloria’s claw latched onto said claw on the verge of tears. Some of the children attempted to climb on each other’s shoulders to hopefully reach their scared friend. 

“Gloria, could you please put her down? You’re scaring her.”

Her metal body’s head turned to the little girl. 

“Oh! Sorry~”

She quickly placed the girl back on the ground who was taken by the younger kids. The older kids stood in between Gloria and the little kids. Yan finally reached the scene to deescalate the situation. One of the kids suddenly spoke up.

“Who are you two?”

His voice was shaking and the stance he tried to hold was shaky. There was some nobility to his actions, trying to protect his friends. If only more people were like that. 

“I’m Index Messenger Yan and she is Index Proxy Gloria. Feel free to call me simply by Yan.”

“And you can just call me Gloria~”

Gloria held out her arm, but Yan tugged at her cloak to give her the indication that the child probably didn’t want her any closer to him. After processing the action, Gloria retracted her arm and tucked all her other arms underneath her cloak. 

“I’m here to deliver something to Mrs. Aritlo. Do you happen to know where she might be?”

“You can just give it to me! Then you can just leave!”

“I deeply apologise, but I am not allowed. Under the assumption Mrs. Aritlo isn’t in the complex, I will stay till she returns.”

“You can’t do that!”

The boy was very determined to have the two leave. Yan didn’t blame him. The way they hid before showed how they weren’t meant to be seen. They were taught to not to be seen for a reason, and now that they have been found out, they became scared. 

“Gloria, could you come keep me company if you don't have any matters to take care of?"

"Sure sweetie~"

She followed behind Yan, who sat next to the partly collapsed apartment building. The boy stared at them while the other children went back to playing. Yan rubbed his temples and Gloria, of course, stroked his hair. 

"Everything went well with your given Prescript?"

"Yep~ Something really cool happened too! When I slit his throat, he still managed to talk. It was only for a few seconds, but still! I didn't think that could happen!"

"I see…….So it was indeed harder finding one then?"

"Nope! I found one not too long after we parted~"

There was something about that statement that didn't seem right. If it really was that easy finding a Grade 4, why come out all to this location? Yan didn't remember the exact District just where the location had been described to him. An apartment complex fit in between much bigger apartments that wasn't necessarily hard to find, as long as you were looking for it. A space between buildings that wasn't dark yet wasn't bright led directly into the complex. One could easily see it from the street, yet he managed to walk past it multiple times. And for something that can so easily be missed, how was she able to find it? Deciding that asking directly wasn’t going to yield an answer, Yan decided to take a more indirect one. Sadly, though, Gloria spoke.

“That little girl had really pretty hair, dontcha think?”

“I didn’t really get a good look at her.” 

“Oh...Well, her hair was pretty and soft like mine was~”

Yan was a split second that Gloria didn't always have a whole mechanical body. Being so used to seeing it, it was hard to imagine her looking any different.

“Do you miss having your hair?”

“Sometimes, but I have yours, Hubert’s, and Esther’s to take care of now~ Especially Esther’s. His is always greasy and knotty and he refuses to let me wash or brush it!”

“Heh. I don't know if Esther has cleaned himself in a while.”

“He hasn’t! He stands in the rain and calls that a shower. Hubert washes if I ask him to and you always seem so clean. They don’t seem to understand that they might not always have their own flesh body….”

Gloria’s hyper demeanor faded with her last sentence. She turned to look at him and her digital eye peaked up, a poor attempt to make him believe she was happy. Out of the corner of Yan’s eye caught a Proselyte, likely one of Gloria’s, holding a woman with her arms behind her back walking towards them. He stood up and Gloria took notice of the Proselyte as well. 

“Ah~ What did Proselyte Ina bring?”

The children that were once being somewhat noisy, became dead quiet.

“Excuse me, do you happen to be Mrs. Aritlo?”

The woman nodded.

“Oh! Your lady Yan has been patiently waiting for~ Proselyte Ina, let Mrs. Aritlo go and return to your place.”

The Proselyte’s grip released and they headed off back to their post, mostly like by the entrance. 

“I have brought you your Prescript.”

Yan pulled the Prescript from his pocket and handed it to Mrs. Aritlo.

“Thank you. I deeply apologise for keeping you waiting, especially since you’re providing protection.”

“It is fine. Be sure to complete your Prescript exactly as it asks. Have a good evening.” 

“I will, Messenger. All I have to do is make dinner for all the kids. Heheh…..”

Mrs. Aritlo’s laugh reeked of uncomfortableness. She knew what the Prescripts were like. 

“Come on sweetie~ You got more Prescripts to deliver.”

Gloria had grabbed and placed Yan onto her without a moment's notice. Whatever reason, she seemed extra rushy. Yan sighed and a thought danced into his mind.

“If Mrs. Aritlo completes her Prescript, she’ll officially be under Index protection. You could use that as a way to patrol the area and hopefully see that girl again.”

“You’re right! And I’ll be sure not to scare her again~”

Gloria joyfully hummed and slid back and forth, occasionally almost making Yan fall off. Seeing her being chipper wasn’t unusual, Gloria was extra chipper. It was pleasant. Thinking back on their little talk made him decide that he would try to keep himself in his best shape. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
